The meanings behind five curious Colorado brewery names

For any business, a name can say a lot. In the craft-brewing business, a name can tell the story of friends who came together to brew, what kind of beer they create, the vibe of the taproom or even all of the above.

The most recent craft beer boom of the past 10 years, however, has brought thousands more to the industry. The saturation has both inspired and compelled newbies to get creative. (That, and avoiding the risk of a trademark dispute with an existing brewery.)

“There’s definitely the rationale of trying to set yourself apart,” said Matthew Fuerst, who opened Grandma’s House on Denver’s Antique Row in 2014. “All of my fellow brewery owners seem to realize that in a crowded brewery industry like Denver.”

The Denver area has a vast collection of curious brewer names that don’t scream “we brew beer” on the outset, and have pretty interesting back stories to (beer) boot. We talked to five such breweries to find out the rhyme and reason behind their names.

In this Sept. 17, 2016 photo, a list of jazz-inspired beer is shown at Spangalang Brewery, a bar in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood. (Russell Contreras, The Associated Press)

Spangalang is an onomatopoeia (you remember that from middle school, right?) for a signature jazz cymbal rhythm invented by jazz percussionist Kenny Clarke. We will pause as you practice the sound in your head. Darren Boyd, Taylor Rees and Austin Wiley, who met while brewing beer at Great Divide, did not pick the name in order to be “the jazz brewery,” Boyd said. It is an homage to the Five Points neighborhood as a historically African-American neighborhood and home to the city’s jazz history that came up when they were brainstorming jazz-centric words.

“It is so hard to come up with names nowadays in the beer industry,” Boyd said. “You always have to look for something that is going to be different. The world of jazz is something that has not been covered extensively by breweries as well.”

The theme has made its way into the brewery’s brand, from vibrant paint colors and live music to instrument-themed beer labels, Boyd said, and it has grown to become a part of their story more than they expected at first.

“(Spangalang) is iconic, it drives the music and provides cohesion for the people playing together,” he said. “There ended up being more depth to what it was than we originally thought.”

With the effort to respect Five Points’ history, Boyd added that the brewery feels accepted by the neighborhood and gets visits from longtime residents.

“We see people who you would not usually see in the craft beer world pop in their head and try our beer,” he said. “I’m pretty sure we have people who probably never had a craft beer at the age of 65.”

Bartender Tyler Vaughan pours a beer for a patron at Our Mutual Friend on June 14, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. Our Mutual Friend is brewery and tap room located in five points. (Seth McConnell, The Denver Post)

Charles Dickens wrote “Our Mutual Friend” in 1865 about the inheritance of a landfill (then called a “dust heap”) by a low-born clerk after the intended heir is found dead.

The founders of Our Mutual Friend Malt and Brew didn’t know that when they named their brewery, and that’s the story co-founder Brandon Proff is sticking to.

“I was thinking about how we needed to come up with something that kind of showed something about us specifically,” Proff said. “The reason we were all friends in the first place was kind of home brewing. The beer is our mutual friend.”

They know the reference now, of course; on the wall hangs a 100-year-old newsprint synopsis of the Dickens’ story and it has lent a literary vibe to the taproom, which also boasts a little library of travel books and copies of “Our Mutual Friend” that visitors have contributed.

Proff said telling people his brewery’s name is Our Mutual Friend sometimes spurs a “who’s on first” type of conversation, or he hears people wary of using the word “our” when telling others about the place. On the whole, though, the original intent has prevailed, Proff said. Our Mutual Friend has succeeded in becoming a mutual meeting ground in its neighborhood of Curtis Park.

“We’ve kind of built a community in the neighborhood over the years and we’re just kind of known by OMF,” he said. “I definitely love the name and I’m glad we named it that.”

Like some of our favorite words to say — like brunch, spork, liger and frenemy — Holidaily is a portmanteau (a combination of words … OK, maybe that’s not one we remember from middle school). It may be the “Brangelina” of “holiday” and “daily,” but for the beer drinkers with celiac disease and other gluten intolerances, it is also a blessing.

“You could have a beer every day now if you want,” said Karen Hertz, owner and founder of Holidaily, to those who come from near and far to enjoy the gluten-free beer.

It really is a special occasion for gluten-free drinkers to find Holidaily’s beers. Brewed with malted millet, quinoa and other gluten-free grains, it actually looks and tastes like real, flavorful craft beer. It is the only brewery in Colorado so far that is able to call its facility “100 percent gluten-free,” meaning nothing containing gluten comes through the doors.

For Hertz, the name represents the new lease on life she found after beating both melanoma and thyroid cancer in her early 30s, making every day a holiday.

“Whether you’re sick or something is difficult, you can always find something positive in every single day,” she says in a video on the brewery’s website.

Hertz said she sees customers all the time who have not had beer in a long time, including one former home-brewer who had been diagnosed with celiac disease.

“He walked in and was overwhelmed to tears,” she said. “Those days are really, really cool.”

First thing’s first: A stave is a plank in a wooden barrel; a crooked stave is one that has dried out, cracked and leaked. Or, as owner Chad Yakobson sees it, “the one that is different, the one that is unique.”

“We were very unique in that way, and therefore we really were the crooked stave in our industry,” he said.

Crooked Stave started with its focus on barrel-aged beer in 2010, which set the brewery apart at that time. Barrel-aged beers have become more popular in many other taprooms since then, but Yakobson and his dedication to being different have not faded.

“I’ve always said from the beginning that we would make (different) beers, but people would associate us with barrel aging,” he said. “We are now playing on the second part of the name — creativity and the unique beginnings.”

Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project has continued to experiment, expand and diversify its projects. After starting at Funkwerks in Fort Collins, the project now has 40 barrels in its Sunnyside neighborhood Barrell Cellar, a special production facility not open to the public. It also boasts a distribution company that brings niche beers from breweries around the country to Colorado, and is brewing a wider variety of beer, including a pilsner and IPA.

Beer taps at Grandma’s House brewery in Denver, Colorado on March 8, 2017. The brewery prides itself on offering a welcoming and cozy hangout for customers. (Katie Wood, The Denver Post)

Despite being one of the last places you might think to have a beer, Grandma’s House has developed quite a social scene around its kitschy decor, knit-covered tap handles and bowls full of that hard candy grandmas always seem to have around.

“Bingo started right from the get-go and took off right away,” said Matthew Fuerst, owner of Grandma’s House. Fuerst said he wanted to buck the trend among breweries to deck taprooms out in an industrial aesthetic of reclaimed wood and exposed duct work, instead making a “homey, comfortable and nostalgic” hangout.

Did he go too far?

“I ran (Grandma’s House) by a bunch of people whose opinion I trust and they thought it was the good kind of crazy, not the bad kind of crazy,” he said.

The theme fits a new brewery’s budget, too — it’s pretty easy these days to find grandma-like decor at thrift stores and locations along Denver’s Antique Row. Just try not to feel cozy in rocking chairs among hand-knit afghans and original artwork painted by Fuerst’s Grandma Franca, who was a classically trained artist.

In addition to Bingo, Grandma’s House hosts naughty cross-stitch, dirty doodles, video game tournaments and other events that have come from customer suggestions.

The events draw large crowds, Fuerst said, and they stay for the beer.

“One of my concerns with the concept was being taken seriously,” he said. “I never wanted the vibe in our taproom, which can be silly sometimes, to be window dressing on bad beer.”